FAQs about Junk Mail

I’m a Boulder County resident. Do I have to pay for these junk mail services?

No! Eco-Cycle has partnered with Catalog Choice to provide these services at no charge. This means that all Boulder County residents, businesses, and even those who work in Boulder County and live elsewhere can sign up for FREE for two services that will help you 1) stop unwanted mail and phone books, and 2) get unlisted to prevent marketers from sharing your name in the first place.

Can I stop junk mail at my Boulder County business with this service?

Yes! Just sign up with your business’s name and address to get started.

If I don’t live or work in Boulder County, do I have to pay for Catalog Choice services?

Catalog Choice provides two main services for folks across the United States: One is free, and one requires a donation (if you don’t live or work in Boulder County). The free service allows you to stop unwanted mail and phone books from showing up at your home no matter where you live. Catalog Choice also provides a “get unlisted” service for a donation of $20 or more. Getting unlisted means your personal information will be removed from marketers’ lists, which prevents junk mail from being sent in the first place. Learn more about Catalog Choices services.

Why is Eco-Cycle supporting this program?

Our mission at Eco-Cycle is to help make Boulder County a model Zero Waste community—and that doesn’t just mean provide recycling and composting services. Zero Waste includes stopping unnecessary waste before it starts to prevent the environmental damage that occurs when a product is manufactured, i.e. before it even gets to consumers. By stopping unwanted mail, you are preventing the clearcutting of forests, the destruction of entire ecosystems that are home to indigenous animals and peoples alike, as well as the energy used to transport the raw natural resources and manufacture them into paper. Unfortunately, the destruction doesn't end there: Most junk mail is trashed, not recycled, which contributes to climate change. Read more about Zero Waste and climate change.

All in all, stopping junk mail helps prevent the destruction of natural resources, saves energy, and helps prevent climate change by preventing waste in the first place. It also saves you time and frustration on a daily basis!

What is junk mail?

Junk mail consists of all the credit card offers, catalogs, flyers, coupons, phone books and other mailings you didn't ask for and don't want.

Why should I care about junk mail?

Junk mail comes at a huge cost to our quality of life. Sorting, reading and recycling junk mail takes time away from your daily activities—you could spend up to eight months of your life dealing with junk mail. Eight months! Junk mail endangers your privacy by sharing your name, address and purchasing habits with marketers around the country. It fills your mailbox with credit card offers and other mailings that could put your identity at risk if in the wrong hands. Junk mail also results in clutter, yet another blow against your quality of life.

We have the power to reverse all of these negative impacts by simply choosing to receive only the mail we want.

Support legislation to reduce junk mail and other unwanted solicitation

Seattle, WA is the first U.S. city to regulate the distribution of unwanted phone books. Residents and businesses can unsubscribe from phone books and distributors must honor these requests. Phone book distributors will pay the city 14 cents per book annually to cover the city's costs of managing phone books, based on the product stewardship principle of holding manufacturers responsible for covering the costs to recycle their end-of-life products.

San Francisco, CA now requires phone books can only be delivered to residents and businesses who wish to receive the phone books, and prohibits the common practice of dropping unsolicited phone books on every doorstep in the city.